Briefly: I don’t think this is going to come as a massive surprise to anyone who has been following the development of Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. sequel. The title of the film was revealed today at CinemaCon. Monsters University will be the sequel to Pixar’s fourth movie, likely with Billy Crystal and John Goodman reprising their roles, as monsters Sully and Mike Wazowski. The film will hit screens in 2012.

The film is reportedly a prequel following Mike and Sulley during their tenure at the University of Fear, where they start off as enemies and then become friends. The title certainly supports that notion. I’d rather see Pixar developing original stories rather than more sequels, but those original films cost money, and sequels generate the licensing dollars in a serious way. And Pixar’s instincts are solid, the Cars movies aside. (There, again: licensing.) How does this one sound to you?

Back in 2005, when it seemed like Disney and Pixar would be dissolving their partnership, Disney set up a studio called Circle 7 to take advantage of the fact that it still held the right to make sequels of Pixar’s film under a previous agreement. The studio was shut down in 2006, once Disney agreed to acquire Pixar, but not before Circle 7 employees had already begun work on sequels like Monsters, Inc. 2 and Toy Story 3. Circle 7’s plans for those films were scrapped completely; the Toy Story 3 that came out last year and the Monsters, Inc. 2 that’s due out next year bear no resemblance to Circle 7’s earlier ideas.

Yesterday, however, two of the screenwriters behind Circle 7’s Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise — Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir, or Bob & Rob, as they call themselves — offered an intriguing glimpse at the never-produced film when they posted some of the artwork for their unproduced script. See images and read the concept after the jump.

Have you wondered how Pixar would structure the promised sequel to Monsters, Inc? If current rumor is to be believed, it will actually be a prequel — possibly a very smart move — rather than a sequel. Though there’s not a lot of info, we’ve stuck it after the break in case you want to avoid knowing anything more. Read More »

There are a few Disney project updates today. First up, the release of Monsters Inc. 2 has been pulled up by two weeks to avoid competition with the final film in the Twilight series. The new date for the Pixar sequel is November 2, 2012. That’ll give it two weeks before Twilight opens, but Pixar should be able to hold its own after having a couple weeks to establish a beachhead.

After the break, slightly meatier updates on Beauty and the Beast 3D and King of the Elves. Read More »

After over a year of speculation, yesterday it was finally officially announced that Pixar is working on a Monsters Inc sequel. Not only that, but Monsters Inc 2 even has a release date: November 16th 2012.But the one thing absent from the announcement was any mention of a writer or director. Who is writing Monsters Inc 2? What is Pete Docter‘s mystery project? We delve into these questions and more, after the jump.

Disney has announced that Pixar will in fact make a Monsters Inc 2, and we can expect that sequel in theaters on November 16th 2012. The original film was released on November 2nd 2001. Disney has also made it official that The Bear and The Bow has been retitled “Brave“. That film also has a new summer 2012 release date.

A Monsters Inc sequel has been rumored to be in the works for the last couple years. But that might not be the case after-all.. or atleast not with writer/director Pete Docter at the helm. When talking to New York Magazine about Up, Docter let it slip that he is already working on his next project:

“I’m mostly focused on the next film that I have in development already,” said Docter. “That one I just started. We finished Up, I took some time off, spent some time in Europe and Japan doing publicity over there, so I’ve only been on this for like a couple weeks.”

When asked if this project was the rumored Monsters Inc 2, Docter replied “I’m not working on … I’m working on something else, but I cannot announce what it is.” He confirmed that the project would probably be ready fr the big screen in 2013 or 2014. Of course, this doesn’t mean that a Monsters, Inc sequel isn’t in development, it just means that he’s actively involved in “something else.” Anyone have any ideas what this project might be? E-mail me anonymously.

If you read the Friday morning edition of the Hollywood trade newspaper Variety, you will notice a story about Jerry Bruckheimer acquiring the big screen rights to IDW Publishing’s graphic novel World War Robot. But if you had looked at the recent domain records that Disney had purchased: WORLDWARROBOT-MOVIE.COM, WORLDWARROBOTMOVIE.COM, or WORLDWARROBOTTHEMOVIE.COM, you would have known about this announcement before it happened.

Jim Hill noticed that the mouse house went on a domain buying spree yesterday (July 29th), snapping up a bunch of Internet addresses for possible upcoming projects. So which projects were on the purchase list? Details after the jump.

Few people have shaped the course of modern animation as much as John Lasseter. The man directed classic films such as Toy Story 1 and 2, and A Bug’s Life, but he’s also the Chief Creative Officer at Pixar and at Walt Disney, in addition to being the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering. In short, this man brings out the child in each one of us, and makes that child’s dreams come true. We had the chance to sit down with Lasseter for a quick chat about his inspirations for Toy Story 3, the 3-D trend for animated films, his approach to Pixar villains, and what he has planned for Walt Disney Imagineering.

At the licensing fair in Las Vegas, Disney/Pixar revealed to buyers behind closed doors that they have yet another sequel in the works. Despite what Brad Bird said on stage at WonderCon two years ago, Pixar is now in the sequel business. Cars 2, Toy Story 3, and now Monsters Inc 2. According to Jim Hill, buyers who attended these limited preview sessions were sworn to secrecy by Disney officials, but several have confirmed that Pete Docter will be following up Up with a sequel to Monsters, Inc.Read More »